Pope Francis suggests changing words of the Lord’s Prayer

One of the best-known prayers in the English language might need an update for the sake of theological clarity, Pope Francis recently suggested in an interview.

The words in the Lord’s Prayer that ask, “Lead us not into temptation,” can cause confusion, Francis said. To make it clear that God would not lead anybody toward sin, the pope suggested a better translation of the Greek prayer from the New Testament would be something along the lines of, “Do not let us fall into temptation.”

Any change to the text of the Mass in the Catholic Church takes lengthy deliberations. Francis’ comments will not lead to a change in what church-goers recite on Sunday.

But there’s precedent for the sort of change he suggested. The Catholic Church in France switched its liturgy on Sunday from “Ne nous soumets pas à la tentation” (roughly “Don’t expose us to temptation”) to an updated version, “Ne nous laisse pas entrer en tentation” (meaning “Don’t let us enter into temptation.”)

Christians who have been taught the Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father prayer, from the time they were children reacted with surprise to the news of the pope’s comments. On social media, many reacted with comments such as, “Leave the Lord’s Prayer alone!”

The prayer comes from the book of Matthew, in which Jesus teaches his followers, “This, then, is how you should pray,” then recites the now-famous words.